Craft in America will focus on the work of three individual artists who use craft to articulate messages about American culture, personal experiences, Latino identity, and the ever-mutating socio-political tensions that exist in Los Angeles and California as a whole. The first of three exhibitions will present the powerful work of Los Angeles-native artist Jaime Guerrero.
Guerrero is one of the few and first artists in the world to sculpt life size figures in glass. The artist takes glass into new realms with his remarkable ability to imbue his medium with palpable emotion and spirit. He is known for manipulating glass in an unusual technique of working inside and outside hot glass to sculpt a piece. 
In addition to Guerrero’s singular process of hand shaping the glass, he animates his figures by occasionally applying highlights of color to the surface of these otherwise clear forms. The inherent nature of glass in its duality of strength, yet fragility, mirrors the nature of the human body and gives his work added impact. In addition to his studio practice, Guererro has dedicated himself to teaching his craft to younger artists in Watts, Boyle Heights, and other underserved communities. He hopes to extend access and promote diversity in the glass field by expanding his studio to serve more students.
For the exhibition at the Craft in America Center, Guerrero will be filling the gallery with an installation of a group of blown glass life-size children that will represent children who are being detained at the border each day. These glass children will be batting at a suspended glass piñata that will be embellished with vivid papier mache streamers. His hope is that the installation will humanize and universalize the experience of these young immigrants and initiate discussion about the critical challenges they face. Guerrero is a graduate of California College of the Arts in Oakland, CA and lives and works in Los Angeles.
On view: August 26 – October 7, 2017
What: Opening reception
Where: Craft in America Center, 8415 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90048
When: August 26, 2017, 5:00pm
Website: http://www.craftinamerica.org/
